La Fatte Bridal Studio 法蝶婚紗會館 – Taiwan Pre-Wedding Photography + FAQ

Hello,

I’m Mrs Mode. Teeheehee.

After posting some pictures on my Instagram of our pre-wedding photos shot in Taiwan by 法蝶婚紗會館 La Fatte Bridal Studio (pronounced as la-feet), I’ve been receiving more enquiries from you guys asking anything from the price of the package, to accommodation, to destinations.

I hope to be able to answer most of your questions in this post!

We Went To Get A Pillow

I’d like to say we did a lot of homework – thronged forums for reviews, met up with many photographers, compared prices, looked at samples, discussed what we wanted, and the sort.

Truth is, we happened to have dinner at a neighborhood mall and wanted to buy a pillow. While we usually avoided those enthusiastic people from bridal studio booths, it was quite a coincidence that both Mr Mode and I were interested to listen to a guy from La Fatte who approached us.

La Fatte is entirely Taiwan-based, meaning they do not have a physical presence here in Singapore. The photos looked great, the service staff were friendly, and at the spur of the moment, we signed the contract. I know, totally impulsive.

Shortly after that, I suffered from buyer’s remorse. For many months following, I was worried that we had been scammed coz it was way more expensive than what people in forums paid for other Taiwan photography packages. I was even MORE terrified after reading horror stories about couple having to pay thousand of dollars in addition due to hidden costs.

Odd thing was, there weren’t many reviews on La Fatte Bridal Studio. A few good ones, zero bad ones. I didn’t know what to expect! But when I looked through the photos posted on their Facebook page, my suspicions and worries were kinda eased coz most people wrote their Thank You’s in Chinese. I reckoned they were really popular in Taiwan, but not so much in Singapore. I guess it’s also coz they don’t have a physical presence here.

So away we put our fears and flew to Taiwan early this year! Right before Chinese New Year, in fact. We hoped to catch the beautiful cherry blossoms, yet wanted to be back here in Singapore to celebrate CNY, so we couldn’t stay too long in Taiwan.

If you have the time, it would be better to be over and done with the photoshoot first, then stay on to party. We had a hard time resisting temptation from all the Taiwanese street food!

We stayed in Taipei for 2 nights, traveled to Taichung for the photoshoot, then returned to Taipei for 1 night.

I posted casual live feeds on my Dayre while we were Taiwan. You can read them here:

You can follow me on Dayre by installing the app (available on iOS and Android).

Should’ve take more OOTDs while we were there!

The super yummy rice at 顶王。OMG, I tell you, Taiwan rice is just mad delicious. I love the chewy texture and pearlescent coating of every single grain.

The first time I had a meal at Ding Wang was when my friends and I were here the previous year. I was contented with just soup + rice. I ate so much rice my friends had to BAN me. Lol.

Choosing My 7 Dresses

We signed up for the package with 7 gowns, VIP range.

Honestly, if I were to choose again, I’d take only 5 gowns, which is what most people go for. I spent the entire day, from morning till night, just choosing gowns. >.<” It was super tiring.

Fortunately, the person who assisted me and gave me advice was so patient and friendly it made the process less tedious. 5 gowns would mean only a day of photoshoot would be necessary, so you’ll save time and cost. But that also means you’ll get to go to less places and experience much less!

Also, because I had to try on so many gowns, I had a clearer idea of what worked for my body shape/height and that helped shape my vision of my ideal wedding gown.

I realized I didn’t like colored dresses. Not the one in focus (even though it looks really chio here), nor the orange and red ones in the background.

Guess which one I picked! 😀

I never thought I could wear an A-line cut. Previously the gowns I tried in Singapore were all ball gowns and some had my small frame drowning in them. Nobody told me I could work an A-line! So I fell in love with A-line after trying a couple at La Fatte. One of my wedding gowns had to be A-line! ^_^*

Nope, no colored ones for me. And definitely not this shade of green. Pastel greens just don’t work too well for my fair skin with strong yellow undertones, but I think it will look awesome on people who have a healthy, glowy tan though.

I loved the flowy blue one the moment I tried it one. Mr Mode liked it too, he said it resembled the flag of Argentina. Lol. The one on the right was right down my alley too – monochrome + ballgown, but because I’d chosen another gown in monochrome, I gave this one up.

I had my 6th dress and didn’t see anything else I liked in my size. Oh by the way, they have soooooo many beautiful gowns in plus sizes. It’s good that they cater to all shapes and sizes coz every bride deserves to look her best! A lot of the nice gowns I saw from the inventory were plus sized so I didn’t try them.

Then I spotted this fun-looking dress and asked to try it. TAA-DAAA!!!! HAPPY!!!! 😀 It’s such a unique dress and reminded me of the circus.

Choosing Your Photographer

One of my favorite shots coz my legs look super long and slim. BAHAHAHA!! And the background was simply gorgeous.

Some of you have asked where was this taken. Honestly, when you’re taken from one place to another and feeling reluctant to get out of the car to be in the open winds, all you want to do is take great shots and get back into the warm and welcoming vehicle. You don’t have any cells left to think, that’s why a pre-discussion with your photographer is very important.

After choosing the gowns and settling on Mr Mode’s suits (he took all of 30 mins LOL), we sat down with Rex to discuss the kind of ‘feel’ we hoped to achieve. Do you want something colorful, monochrome, serious, fun, hilarious, haunting, vintage, modern?

I told Rex I like ruins so he brought us here. LOVE.

It was very easy to communicate with Rex and he easily understood what we wanted. In fact, I personally chose him to be our photographer many months before we flew to Taiwan. You can check out La Fatte’s website to look at the profile of their photographers.

As most of you might know, Mr Mode is easily the most uncomfortable person in the world when you point a lens at him so I’m glad Mr Mode didn’t feel awkward with Rex. His dry sense of humor was greatly appreciated. Haha.

After that, we went back to the hotel to rest and pack our luggage for a 2D1N trip with our team of photographer and MUAs.

The hotel in Taichung was recommended by the La Fatte team, and we liked that it was within walking distance from the bridal studio. No need to worry about transport.

Photoshoot Day 1

That’s my real hair, it’s not a wig. Heh. I only have a few photos taken with my camera coz most of the time we were always quickly bundled up and away from the cold winds and back into the van.

便利商店 (convenient stores) and the car boot were places to touch up makeup and change hairstyles.

After the first day of photoshoot in 2 degree celcius temperatures + strong winds (台风) with my nose inevitably un-glamorously dripping most of the time, it was such a memorable experience to have dinner at a little restaurant on the way up the mountain where our accommodation for the night would be.

Everything was great but these 2 dishes were OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD kind of delicious. So good we ordered another set on our way back down the next day.

My favorite kind of mushrooms – King Oyster Mushrooms. OMGGGG I wanna go back just to have this in my mouth again. X_X

Their ‘kampung chicken’. Mr Mode loved this!

I think the mushroom is 三杯杏鲍菇, but I don’t know the name of the chicken!

Photoshoot Day 2

Our minsu with a beautiful view in the morning. I wish we had more time to bask in the tranquility of the mountains and fresh air.

Every gown has a different hair style and makeup! Thank you Kiki 老师 + her assistant for the great job!

The reason we came for – CHERRY BLOSSOMS! ^_^

I’ve never seen cherry blossoms in my life, so to witness it with Mr Mode was really special and memorable. The La Fatte team said we were very lucky coz many couples had come and gone without catching a glimpse of cherry blossoms!

There was a camping site up on the mountain. I’d love to come camping here some day! And pack a lot of mushrooms and chicken from the restaurant to eat in the little huts. Heh heh.

Some filming going on.

Behind-the-scene.

This pose reminds me of a very young Mr Mode. LOL!!!

There was always someone helping to adjust my hair, my dress, or throw my thick jacket on me even for 30 seconds. I really only had to look pretty and pose HAHA. Thank you 小花，Kiki 老师，小老师！

Lone sheep.

This picture brings back so many memories. It may not look like much to you, but it speaks volumes to me – of the moments I had with my inner self, telling myself to stay focused on achieving a great shot, fighting against the reality of insane bone-chilling winds to project the warmest smile. Check out the red nose. Lol!

But if I had to do it all over again, you know what, I’D DO IT. The goosebumps and runny nose lasted for a while, but great photos last a lifetime. Thank you, Rex! 😀

One of the last few shots.

I’ve never seen anything like this. Such a beautiful sight to behold.

YAYYY!! It’s a wrap!!

Post-Production – Ding Dong Back & Forth

I must admit that because my blog career involves editing of photos on a daily basis for the blog and other social media channels, I have a certain level of expectation and it’s nowhere low or average.

The editing team did a great job but when I had some specific requests, they were extremely accommodating and were always prompt to reply and work on my requests.

In case you didn’t catch earlier that Mr Mode and I merely went to buy a pillow but ended up buying a photography package, this is not a paid advertorial. We were paying customers, who feared we had been scammed, but were eventually won over by their fantastic service (pre-trip + post-trip) and quality of their photos.

Commonly Asked Questions

Here are some questions I’ve been asked regarding my photoshoot and I’d like to share them, as well as my answers, with you.

Q: What are the hidden costs?

A: Right from the start, La Fatte conveyed transparency in their charges. Whatever additional costs that might be incurred – transport, ampoules, admission fee to venues, MUA fees, accommodation – will be fully borne by the couple.

One key thing I must emphasize is that if you decide to go for the same package as we did, meaning 7 gowns, be prepared for higher costs. These costs come from an additional day of photoshoot (because it’s impossible to complete 7 outfits/locations in 1 day), which translates into 2 days of makeup + hair, 1 night of accommodation not only for yourself but for the La Fatte team. And be prepared to be TIRED x 2.

But honestly, for the beautiful landscape we shot against and the quality of photos we received, I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Q: How much was your package?

Honestly, I cannot recall. But if the 7 gowns package is out of your budget, the 5 gowns package is really good enough. Actually I’m not sure if they really go by ‘5-gowns’ or ‘7-gowns’ package names….

BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?!

I told them that I loved their service and that I’d write about them on my blog. Then I asked if they could give something special to my readers and they came up with a special package just for my readers! You can ask about the ‘Juli Package’ and they’ll share more with you. I don’t know what this package entails, really. Just that it should be something special! 😀

Q: When should I go for photoshoot in Taiwan?

A: This was what I keyed in Google search when I was planning when to go for our photoshoot. We wanted to catch the cherry blossoms but different parts of Taiwan have them at different times. Some in January, some in March, so it was really by sheer luck that we managed to catch them!

In other months of the year there are different species of flowers, like 油桐花 is in… May? I think~~ You can always drop the team an email (service@lafatte.com.tw) and ask. I wrote them so emails I found myself irritating. BAHAHAHA! 😛 真的谢谢你们那么耐心地回答我！

Q: Is now too early to plan for my photoshoot?

I planned almost 1 year ahead for various reasons:

1. It’s easier to make Mr Mode drink a concoction of bittergourd + coffee beans + sambal belachan than take a picture. So I took that one year to slowly coax him into taking more pictures. Slowly….slowly…..steady…….

2. I had time to do plenty of research. I basically camped in the La Fatte facebook page to go through almost ALL the photos they had and took a screenshot of those I liked and put them into Powerpoint. You don’t have to go to this extreme, of course! But that was what I did and when we flew to Taiwan and showed the staff the pictures I liked, she told me they were mostly by Rex. That’s how I chose Rex! 😀

3. Also depends on which season you want to go!

Q: Why should you go overseas to shoot?

I think it’s the same reason why you would choose to go overseas anyway. For the change in environment, the romanticism of escaping to another county together and creating memories, and the weather! Oh my, if I had to choose between shooting in Hot Singapore and Cold Taiwan, I’d take the latter. Imagine walking around, sweating in those gowns.

There is no ‘bad’ reason for taking your bridal photos overseas, except of course it’s usually a higher cost. So if you can afford it, don’t wait! If you want ‘official’ pre-wedding photos, go to a place where you wouldn’t sweat buckets. When we returned to Singapore, we took another set of casual pre-wedding photos. That’s for another post!

Alright! Hope I’ve helped you make a more informed choice for your pre-wedding photos! Talk to you soon! *blows kisses*